Jerry Brown's Tax-and-Spend Games

Jerry Brown has a reputation for governing in contradictions. For example, he preaches fiscal prudence—and then insists that the state charge full-steam ahead with its quarter-baked $70 billion bullet train. Another example would be his budget plan for the upcoming year.

The $106 billion general-fund budget increases spending by $8 billion thanks largely to a windfall in capital gains revenues. The governor, however, notes that capital gains "tend to be extremely volatile." His budget purportedly seeks to avoid...